Generally, fishing reels equipped with a bail arm have hitherto been called spinning reels and are well-known. In this type of reel, a rotary frame is supported rotatably at the front of a reel body so that the rotary frame is rotatably driven by a handle supported to the reel body. The reel is provided at circumferentially symmetrical positions with first and second mounting arms projecting forwardly of the rotary frame and supporting therebetween the bail arm. The bail arm is put in the line winding position to catch the line and the rotary frame rotates to wind the line onto a spool disposed in front of the rotary arm. The bail arm is turned over or pivoted to the line releasing position so as to free the line to permit casting.
In the spinning reel constructed as described above, in order to turn over the bail arm from the line winding position to the line releasing position, there have been proposed methods in which an angler grips the bail arm directly by his hand to turn it over and he operates the turnover lever by, for example, the forefinger of his hand gripping a fishing rod so as to turn over the bail arm through the turnover lever. Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Gazette No. Sho 59-47,471 discloses a conventional reel, in which a support for the bail arm is pivoted to the top surface of one mounting arm at the rotary arm through a first shaft such that it can be freely turned over. In this latter reel, a cutout is provided at the circumference of the pivot portion at the support, and the turnover lever is pivoted on the mounting arm and radially outwardly of the rotary frame through a second shaft perpendicular to the first shaft. Also, a projection engageable with the cutout is provided at the lower side of the pivotal portion of the lever, so that the lever is operated to move the support in association therewith, thereby turning over the bail arm.
The turnover lever, which is pivoted to the mounting arm through the second shaft perpendicular to the first shaft, is swingable toward the fishing rod when the fishing reel is mounted thereon, whereby the angler can easily operate the lever by the forefinger of his hand gripping the fishing rod. Also, the turnover lever is operated directly in association with the support through the engagement of the projection with the cutout, thereby yielding a device which is simpler in construction than one using an amplifying mechanism, such as a linkage mechanism or a gear mechanism, in association with the support. However, the support has an insufficient rotary stroke with respect to a turnover angle of the lever because of the lack of an amplifying mechanism. Hence, in order to obtain a sufficient rotary stroke, the pivotal point of the lever and the engaging point of the projection are required to be spaced enough, thereby creating a problem in that the lever must project from the mounting arm largely radially outwardly of the rotary frame.